Vacancy: OHCHR National Consultant to develop a survey on perceptions of healthcare beneficiaries on respect of human rights in emergency care services in the Republic of Moldova, UNDP Moldova

OHCHR National Consultant to develop a survey on perceptions of healthcare beneficiaries on respect of human rights in emergency care services in the Republic of Moldova

Vacancy Number: Pr16/01345

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	11 Jul 2016, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	20 Jul 2016
Reference to the project:	Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Expected Duration of Assignment:	20 July -10 December 2016
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online only, by following the “Apply online” link, no later than 11 July 2016. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: vpurcel@ohchr.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Уведомление о закупке услуг индивидуального консультанта Termeni de referință Terms of reference Техническое Задание Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Ms. Valentina Purcel.

Background

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) represents the world's commitment to universal ideals of human dignity. It has a unique mandate from the international community to promote and protect all human rights.

OHCHR in Moldova led by the National Human Rights Coordinator supports and advises the UN RC Office, United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Moldova, Government, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), civil society and community groups in strengthening human rights and human rights based approach to development.

During 2015-2016 the OHCHR office in Moldova in full cooperation with UNDP Moldova are implementing the joint project “Supporting National Human Rights Institutions as per International Treaty Bodies and UPR Recommendations”, with the financial support of the Norwegian Government. The overall goal of the project is to contribute to the effective protection and promotion of human rights, equality and non-discrimination in the Republic of Moldova. The project seeks to catalyze the emergence of the strongest possible independent national human rights institutions for Moldova – the Ombudsperson Office and the Council on the Prevention and Elimination of Discrimination and Ensuring Equality (hereby referred as Equality Council) – and to increase their focus around core strategic human rights goals to maximize their impact.

In 2014 the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, recommended to the government of the Republic of Moldova to “proactively ensure that good quality health facilities, goods and services are accessible by and affordable for everyone, especially the most vulnerable or marginalized sections of the population, without discrimination” and “ensure that information on health (including sexual and reproductive health) goods and services is fully available, acceptable, accessible and of good quality, and that such information is imparted in a manner that is accessible to the poorest and most marginalized members of society”^{^[1]}. Furthermore, back in 2011 the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its Concluding Observations stressed the importance of the State party to take measures to ensure that emergency ambulance services are extended to Roma and older persons, without exception, and establish a center for the submission of complaints regarding the provisions of such services^{^[2]}.

According to the Ombudsman’s 2015 Report on the observance of human rights in the Republic of Moldova^{^[3]}, the quality standards in accessing the health services are not met, especially reduced access to emergency care services in rural areas^{^[4]}. Furthermore, thanks to OHCHR/UNDP continuous support to the Office of the People’s Advocate, the right to health and access to health services was declared by the Ombudsman one of the office’s priorities for the forthcoming years. The preliminary overall data from a very new and representative human rights perception survey under elaboration jointly by the People’s Advocate Office (Ombudsman) and OHCHR shows that about 62% of the population considers that the state does not ensure equal access to everyone to quality medical care.

Although the Ministry of Health and its specialized institutions currently conducts a national assessment of the emergency (pre-hospital) care services in Moldova, the rights holders’ opinion and perception about their level of satisfaction in accessing these specific care services remains unexplored. In order to ensure the participation of the rights holders to the process of public policy life cycle in medical sphere in the Republic of Moldova, the Peoples Advocate Office (Ombudsman) with the support of OHCHR and UNDP Moldova plans to develop a survey on perceptions of healthcare beneficiaries on respect of human rights in emergency care services in the Republic of Moldova. This perception survey will serve as credible indicator for further assessing the official data issued by the Emergency Medical Care and provide reliable data and recommendations for further improvement of the emergency care services in the Republic of Moldova. The official data from 2015 shows that about 975248 people accessed the emergency care services in Moldova.

[1]Mission to the Republic of Moldova (8–14 September 2013). The full report can be seen at:

https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G14/059/29/PDF/G1405929.pdf?OpenElement

[2]The full report with recommendations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights may be seen at: http://ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/MDIndex.aspx

[3]http://ombudsman.md/sites/default/files/document/attachments/report_2015_engl.pdf

[4]http://www.ombudsman.md/sites/default/files/document/attachments/report_2015_engl.pdf

Scope of work

With reference to the above argumentation, from those 14 human rights of the patients recognized by the international human rights standards^[1], only 7 of them will be assessed via the survey on perceptions of healthcare beneficiaries on respect of human rights in emergency care services in the Republic of Moldova, especially:

the right of access;

the right to confidentiality and privacy;

the right to information;

the right to consent;

the right to complain;

the right to respect of patients’ time;

the right to observance of quality standards.

Based on the assessment of the petitions received by the People’s Advocate Office during last years, it results that the above selected list of human rights of the patients had been predominantly violated compared to the other set of rights not selected for this specific study. The same list of rights had also been included in the communication strategy of the People’s Advocate Office.

An additional question to be included in the data collection tools will refer to the existing issue of informal payments in accessing the emergency care services in the Republic of Moldova.

The survey on perceptions of healthcare beneficiaries on respect of human rights in emergency care services in the Republic of Moldova will consist from an analysis of the quantitative data only.

Under this Terms of Reference, the National Consultant is expected to carry out the following tasks:

Elaborate a comprehensive methodology for data collection and analysis, including the quantitative survey sample, by applying the principles highlighted in the OHCHR Guide on Human Rights Based Approach to Data: leaving no one behind in the 2030 Development Agenda^{^[2]} - (2 working days);
Propose and elaborate the quantitative survey tools for data collection, data processing and analysis - (2 working days);
Train the field data collections operators and test the data collection tools - (2 working days);
Process the collected data and provide a data base in SPSS or EPINFO format - (11 working days);
Analyze the data collected and processed, and draft a comprehensive report survey with conclusions and recommendations - (8 working days);
Support with public discussions of the survey - (5 working days).

[1] The right to preventive measures, the right of access, the right to information, the right to confidentiality and privacy, the right to consent, the right to complaint, the right to compensation, the right to free choice, the right to respect of patient’s time, the right to observance of quality standards, the right to security, the right to innovation, the right to avoid unjustified sufferings, the right to personalized treatment.

[2] http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/HRIndicators/GuidanceNoteonApproachtoData.pdf

Requirements for experience

The National Consultant must possess the following minimum qualifications criteria:

Academic Qualifications:
- Master’s Degree in social sciences, political sciences, law, economics, human rights, or other relevant field;
Years and sphere of experience:

At least 3 years of practical experience in conducting research, people’s perceptions surveys and/or studies, including in the field of human rights and the right to health;
Experience in coordinating similar surveys.

Competencies:
Knowledge and in-depth understanding of the human rights environment in Moldova, including related to the right to health, its sensitivities and challenges;
Demonstrated understanding of ethical and legal frameworks surrounding the undertaking of perception surveys;
Effective communication, strong analytical and reporting skills;
Experience in working with UN or other international organizations is an asset;

Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular, respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status;
Fluency in Romanian and Russian. Working knowledge of English and one or more additional languages relevant for Moldova, including Bulgarian, Gagauzian, Romani, Ukrainian or sign language is an asset;

The UN Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Proposal:

Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work.

Financial proposal (in USD, specifying a total requested amount per working day, including all related costs, e.g. fees, per diems, travel costs, phone calls etc.);
Duly completed and signed P11 Form, and at least 3 contacts for references.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables. Payments are paid in equal installments and are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including fees, taxes, mobile phone calls, etc.).

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Disclaimer

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